While liveblogging volunteer efforts in Rochester the Saturday before the election, we had the pleasure of meeting Tina Liebling, her spouse, and their son David. Now we read in the Post Bulletin that she's to be an assistant leader in the Minnesota House DFL caucus:
State Rep. Tina Liebling, a Rochester DFLer, has been elected one of six assistant leaders in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Also elected to assistant leadership posts were Reps. Melissa Hortman, Brooklyn Park; Michael Nelson of Brooklyn Center; Aaron Peterson, Madison; and Steve Simon of St. Louis Park.
Liebling and the other assistant leaders will help move bills through the legislative process. They will assist Rep. Frank Moe, Bemidji, who was elected assistant majority leader, and speaker-designate Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
Having representatives from diverse districts in leadership positions will help balance power in the House, Kelliher and Moe have said.
Meanwhile, the selection of Rochester's Dave Senjem as Senate Minority leader gets a favorable nod from the Minnesota Farmers Union, accroding to Agrinews:
The next legislative session is going to be full of opportunities, Thom Petersen told delegates gathered for the recent Minnesota Farmers Union annual convention.
Petersen, MFU's legislative director, said it's an exciting time with new leadership in the state Legislature and Congress.
The new House leader, Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, grew up on a Blue Earth County farm. Rep. Marty Seifert, the minority leader, is from Marshall.
In the Senate, MFU will miss Dean Johnson, who narrowly lost his re-election bid. No matter how busy he was, Sen. Johnson always kept his appointments with MFU, Petersen said.
Sen. Larry Pogemiller, the new Senate Majority Leader, will make them work harder, Petersen predicted. The new Senate Minority Leader, Dave Senjem of Rochester, has relatives in Dodge County who belong to Farmers Union.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty's re-election means there will probably be four more years of Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson, Petersen said. MFU has developed a good working relationship with the commissioner and the department, he said. It's not unusual for MFU staff to be at the ag department two or three times a week to work on issues.
Petersen, for example, chairs the state's organic task force.
Petersen thanked members for their involvement in the political process. Their efforts helped send two new Democrats to Washington: Amy Klobuchar and Tim Walz.
They also made a difference on state issues, with MFU staff or members testifying 30 times in the two-month 2006 legislative session. One day, they testified five times on an issue, he said.
Petersen reviewed a few of the issues MFU worked on last year, including eminent domain reform, clean water, bovine tuberculosis, property taxes and health care, and asked members to continue to stay engaged in the political process.
MANKATO FREE PRESS: DM & E DERAILMENT RASHOMAN
In the classic Japanese film Rashoman, viewers see an event from multiple perspectives. So it is with the recent DM & E derailment near Cambria. The Mankato Free Press's Mark Fischenich writes that Lesson of derailment depends on viewpoint; DM&E, foe cite accident to support their view of project.
In a separate article, we learn that Clean up option are still being weighed. Since the ethanol that spilled into the dry bed of the Little Cottonwood River is 98% alcohol, Leigh Pomeroy at Minnesota Monitor wondered whether Courtland could become the martini capitol of the world.
Alas--a 2% dash of gasoline is mixed into ethanol to discourage imbibing. Readers who do want to savor the product of Minnesota's growing empire of distilleries should buy a vehicle that runs on E85, or mix their martinis with Shakers, from Benson, Minnesota.
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